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Monday, February 17, 2014

Epice

When my coworker raved about the new Lebanese restaurant in 12South, I texted my friend Lauren (blogger at Old Red Boots) about it. Sounds like a great girls' night, right? Lauren secured a reservation for a Thursday evening dinner.

Epice is a small bistro by the same restaurateur as Kalamatas. (I've also heard good things about Kalamatas.) I'd never eaten Lebanese food before, but the menu looked interesting.

Parking is crazy in 12South, so before I drove out there I Googled to figure out the parking situation. Epice has some spaces out front and a few in the Green Pea Salon lot. White's Mercantile lot is available after 6 p.m. No problem! I easily found a spot at White's. Epice is definitely on the small side, but not in a bad way! I liked the modern/simple decor (very zen), and our waiter was attentive and complimentary. He didn't mind us taking our time through our courses and chatting away.

We ordered the Kibbeh appetizer, little seasoned ground sirloin bulgur wheat bundles with a dipping sauce. I immediately said they were like mini Lebanese corn dogs, but in a good way! Our meals included nice salads as well. (Note: I don't like salad, but I made it through a couple of bites which is a big deal.) We also ordered red wine to go with our meals.

Please go see Lauren's nice photos. My iPhone wasn't too great.

For my main dish, I had the Hummos Beyrouti, a chickpea purée, braised ground sirloin, and pine nuts with pita chips. It was really good! Everything came out so fast. After the appetizer I was only able to eat half of my meal, which pleased Dan immensely because he devoured my take-home box later.

We decided to indulge in desserts, so we share the Roz be-Haleeb (rice pudding with orange blossom infusion) and Katayef Lebanese crepes (one with a mild, sweet cheese and the other with walnuts). The desserts were soooo good. I would recommend it for a couple on a date, because it's quiet, intimate, and has good ambience. The prices aren't unreasonable, but it is definitely a little more upscale-focused than Epice.

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